Alfredo Paredes Talks His Debut Monograph and the Love Story Behind It

Alfredo Paredes is a legend in the world of interior design. The former chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren Home is the visionary behind the brand's Fifth Avenue mansion boutique and its Polo Bar. Beyond the work for fashion houses, Paredes boasts a lengthy résumé of designing other interior spaces, including his many homes, which are being revealed for the first time in his debut monograph.

Alfredo Paredes at Home, a $60 Rizzoli title that published early March, not only offers a look at his process and philosophy on design, but it also takes readers inside four of his homes. For each property—spanning those in Locust Valley, the East Village, Shelter Island, and Provincetown—the book offers insights on the making of the space and the intention behind each's details.

Paredes may not have always wanted to have a book, but one day it clicked. "I started to see my houses on Pinterest and different places, and they were very popular. And I was like, 'Oh, well, other designers have books. Why not me?' Then I thought about what it would be about and spoke to [publishing professional] Jill Cohen," he told L'OFFICIEL. 

The title takes readers into Paredes' very own thought process. "Something that is hard to articulate in the book is that these places were all neglected places. They were all places that nobody else wanted. I had a vision for them immediately and this instinctual draw to them. I think about my East Village apartment; it was on the market forever," he reveals.

But beyond the interior design teachings and inspiration within, the book is also subtly characterized by a love story. Paredes' husband, writer (and former executive editor of Interview Magazine) Brad Goldfarb, wrote the book based on interviews with Paredes and an obvious bevvy of context thanks to their nearly 40 years of marriage.

Even when Paredes admits he was resistant to interviews, "[Goldfarb] could get it out of me in a way that only he could. I don't know that any other designer or creative could have a writer say their words for him better... he knows me better than anyone else, you know," Paredes adds. Goldfarb penned the perfect match to match Paredes' decades of executing excellence in interior design.